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Homebush railway station
}} Homebush railway station, is on the Inner West and Leppington line of the Sydney Trains network. It serves the suburb of Homebush. Station entry is accessed from stairs at The Crescent, near Rochester Street. Homebush is staffed from 6:00am to 7:00pm on weekdays, and 8:00am to 4:00pm on weekends and public holidays.https://transportnsw.info/stop?q=10101216 History The Main Western line to Parramatta, via Granville station was originally completed in 1855. The line opened on 26 September 1855 and was double track from Sydney Central to Newtown station and then single track to Parramatta (but duplicated in 1856). The line was built as a direct connection to Parramatta and, subsequently, for the purpose of connecting Sydney with the major rural railways that were constructed across the Blue Mountains to Bathurst and across the Southern Highlands to Goulburn via Liverpool. There were few stops along the line between Sydney and Parramatta and it was not the original intention of the line to serve suburban development. Changes to the line were more often related to the line's long distance purpose than to the communities along it. Traffic to the west and south (and later north) of the state brought the need to amplify the line, first in 1891 when it was quadrupled and later in 1927 when it was sextupled (to Homebush) and electrified. With both of these major changes the earlier stations were usually entirely demolished and replaced with a new station. The 1927 work completed this process with the complete replacement of Strathfield and much of Newtown Stations. During this time suburban development also extended west along the line and these new stations were thus specifically designed as full-scale suburban passenger stations rather than rural "halts". The Engineer for Existing Lines, George Cowdery (appointed 1863), was a particularly strong influence on the architecture of this line, building particularly elegant stations in the late 1880s ahead of the 1891 quadruplication, in addition to replacing the original stone arch viaduct at Lewisham with iron truss bridges. Sextuplication in 1927 brought less change to most local stations (which were on the southern side), the new tracks being express ones on the northern side. Homebush station opened on 26 September 1855 when the Main Suburban line opened. In 1862 a new station building was erected on the southern side and in the 1870s stockyards were erected adjacent to the station (the station servicing the nearby NSW Government abattoirs at Homebush). The stockyards were closed and replaced by Flemington stockyards in 1883. In 1891, with quadruplication, Homebush station was completely rebuilt resulting in the present station layout being established with a centre island platform opening in late 1891. The station comprised large platform buildings, an overhead pedestrian footbridge with a booking office and an existing 1880s Station Master's Residence on the north side of the station. The station was expanded to six platforms when the line between Redfern and Homebush was sextupled in the 1920s. The existing three-storey brick signal box was built in 1892 and remained in use until 1928 when its function was replaced by a new "power" box. The 1928 signal box remained in use until 1982 when it was replaced by a simple brick and concrete building. The 1892 signal box is now the only remaining box at the station of the five built since the station opened. For many years Homebush was the terminating point for local suburban services on the Western line. A carriage shed was built at Homebush in 1890 located to the east of Homebush Road which connected to one of a number of sidings built at the station during this period. The carriage shed was later used as a store then training and education facilities until it was demolished in 2001. In 1891 a locomotive depot and locomotive watering facilities were also constructed near the carriage shed. By the late 1920s the Depot was largely redundant and was ultimately demolished c. 1929. Numerous smaller buildings were also constructed at Homebush such as a telephone exchange, storage sheds, amenities buildings and a track ganger's shed. All have been demolished. The station also featured a Garden Nursery, a single storey building built in 1923 along the eastern frontage of The Crescent which was established so that other stations could be provided with a range of shrubs and flower plants to improve their landscaped appearance. Railway station gardens were created statewide from c.1890 onwards. Competitions and prizes sprang up and two nurseries (Homebush and Hamilton, near Newcastle) were opened to provide plants, in addition to those sourced from staff home gardens. Changing practices both in nursery supplies and the station gardens promotions saw the nursery close in 1974 and its staff of gardeners disbanded. Due to increased goods train traffic, two lines were built on the north side of the station in 1924 converting the side platform into an island. The footbridge was also extended over the new tracks and a two-storey office built abutting the footbridge on its western side. These changes resulted in the demolition of the 1880 station master's Residence. On 7 January 2009, Tangara T Set T1 derailed past the station, leading to driving trailer car D6106 being taken out of service and replaced by D6148. D6106 was stripped for spare parts at Maintrain (UGL Unipart) at Auburn, before later being reconstructed. D6106 was reinstated as of 2014. In March 2018, an upgraded Homebush station opened to customers. The station had received new lifts, improvements to station entrances, new canopies, lighting upgrades, CCTV surveillance, wayfinding signage and more. The upgrade was part of the Transport Access Program.https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/projects/current-projects/homebush-station-upgrade Platforms and Services | p4astop = Services to the City Circle | p4anotes = | p5alinename = Not in regular use | p5astop = | p5anotes = | p6alinename = | p6astop = Terminating services to and from the City Circle | p6anotes = | p7alinename = | p7astop = Services to Parramatta (weekdays only) and Leppington | p7anotes = }} Map Category:Sydney Trains Stations Category:Stations Category:Suburban stations Category:Stations with disabled access Category:Transport Access Program: Completed Category:Strathfield Council